Peeling a Pomegranate

Happy Sukkot all! A friend’s LiveJournal post reminded me that I should give a shout-out to the Jewitches too! This is more of an overview of the holiday than a deep exploration. Most of the links are to the OU.org Sukkot pages.

Sukkot is the big fall harvest holiday. We build “sukkahs” which are little huts that you are supposed to reside in for the week, to remember the times when we would live in the fields while harvesting. Like all Jewish holidays there’s about 100 layers to this, so that’s the super simple version. It’s nice to have this big happy festival just after Yom Kippur! It’s like saying, “Yes, we believe that we’ve been written in for prosperity and we’re going to say Thank you!”

We also give offerings of fruit and grain, and make prayers for water. Part of the ritual is to shake a lulav and etrog to the four directions. For those unable to get a lulav this year (there’s a shortage) you can use this handy lulav simulator.

We also welcome “honored ancestors” or Ushpizin into the sukkah. Traditionally these have been just the Patriarchs, Moses, Aaron, and Joseph. But needless to say this list has been expanded a bit to include the ladies, for the non-orthodox. It’s a time to honor and welcome the great ancestors of spirit.

And it means it’s time for me to actually write down my Peeling a Pomegranate meditation and share it!

How do you all celebrate Sukkot?